Business Essentials Package

What is Business Essentials?

Our most popular package is FSB Business Essentials which includes a whole range of benefits and products designed to make your business fly

What's included?

A suite of legal benefits including a dedicated helpline, bundled insurance products and a range of online information to keep your business safe. Plus a whole range of negotiated benefits to help save you money and win business.

Chris Green's Story

'Within a few weeks of joining we'd taken advantage of FSB’s Online Legal Documents. We started a graduate programme and access to these documents gave us an understanding of the legal side, and has helped us to create a number of processes and procedures.'

Marc Wileman's Story

'When we first took on a member of staff, we used the online legal document template library. FSB does more important stuff than you think it does, there are lots of member benefits, probably more than we actually use.'

How much does FSB membership cost?

We offer three packages to suit your business needs. Joining FSB Connect is free, our Business Essentials package starts at £172.50 in the first year and our specialist Business Creation package has a fixed price of £129.

Who should attend a networking event?

Getting the most out of networking events isn’t just about knowing how to prepare for them and what questions to ask when you’re there. You can learn about this in our blog, What questions to ask at a networking event. Deciding who in your business should attend is important. You need to ensure the most suitable person is present to represent your business, and that they can source the contacts or knowledge that can help develop your company further.

So who should attend a networking event? This blog explains what to consider when deciding on the right staff to send.

Who makes up your company?

The first factor you should consider when determining who should attend a networking event is what staff roles make up your company team. Depending on your business and its size, this could include the business manager (you), your business partner, your sales manager or sales team, and your finance and HR managers. It could also include your shop floor manager or team, your company directors, your department managers – for example design and manufacturing - and your marketing manager.

If you’re a start-up, your business team might just consist of you, or you and a business partner. In the latter case, you or your partner should attend. Depending on how busy you are at the time, both of you could go to fully represent your company. However, if there are other staff in your team, then you can consider other factors to make sure you send the most suitable person to get the most from the event. This includes sending the employee who:

Has the most networking experience or has sourced leads from previous events

Has good people skills and is confident, chatty and approachable

Has good access to transport or lives closest to the event, which will save you money on travelling costs

Is reliable and enthusiastic about attending and passionate about your business

What is the networking event?

Knowing details about the event can also help you decide who should attend, so it’s important to do your research. This includes finding out the type of the event, its key aims, and who will be attending. So consider asking yourself questions for each area:

Type – Is it a small standalone networking event or a big occasion attached to a large industry conference or exhibition? Is it a short breakfast meeting or will it run all afternoon? Also, is it a new event, a one-off, monthly, or does it take place each year?

Aim ­– What is the aim of the event and who has organised it? Is it primarily to help with business development or sales? Is it a design and innovation networking event set up by technology institute, or a drive from a business association to help companies source and recruit talent?

Attendees – Who else is attending and where from? Will managing directors of big players in your industry be there, or founders of new and innovative start-ups? Will sales people, marketing managers, project managers or technology experts attend? Or can you expect to find business journalists and industry news editors?

These event details can help you decide who in your team is best to do the networking. For instance, if it’s a big event with different networking opportunities available through the day, such as a conference or exhibition, you and another key employee could attend the event together, so you can cover more ground quickly. Whereas, if a number of journalists will be attending, your media or marketing manager (if you have one) should go to help promote your company effectively.

What do you hope to get out of the event?

When deciding who in your company should attend a networking event, it’s also important to consider what you plan to get out of it and how it could help your business. For instance, your main aim might be to find new clients and business leads. In this case, if you have a company director who leads in business development, they could attend. Whereas, if your key networking aim is to build industry knowledge and get some business advice, you or your company partner should attend.

Alternatively, if your aim is to attract sales of your products or services, you’ll probably benefit more if your sales manager attends. However, if you’re looking to find new material suppliers or product distributors, or source new talent for a particular area of your business, the employee who manages that area, knows it well and knows what’s needed, would be more beneficial.

Helping you to get the most from networking events

When it comes to networking events, who should attend is just one important factor to consider to make sure you get the most out of those most relevant to you. With our expert networking services, we can help your business connect with others and build relationships with the right people to take your company forward. The membership service includes access to:

Hundreds of UK events to help you develop relationships and attract more business

A structured format so you know what to expect at whatever event you attend

An established framework of the best face-to-face and virtual networking events

If you’d like to find out more about our networking services and how we can help you, please take a look at our FSB Connect Networking page. This is included with all our packages, Business Essentials, Business Creation and FSB Connect. Please visit our package comparison page to learn more about these packages and what they have to offer.

FSB Connect Networking from FSB

Network with other members and non members from across the UK through our National and Local networking framework